I couldn't lose this job. I didn't dare.
Every dollar I earned was keeping my mother alive.
My head dropped in defeat.
The necklace slipped free from my collar, the silver ring dangling into view.
There was a letter engraved on it.
Faintly legible, a single “P.”
The moment Jacqueline spotted it, her face darkened all over again.
“You have the nerve to wear a ring with my husband's initial on it! What excuse could you possibly have? You're nothing but a homewrecking tramp trying to sleep her way up!”
She kicked me square in the chest.
I crumpled to the floor.
Sticky milk tea soaked through my clothes, clinging to my skin.
Jacqueline bent down, reaching for the ring around my neck.
The door swung open. Norman Pruitt walked in.
His gaze swept across the mess on the floor, and his voice cut through the room：
“Jacqueline, enough! What kind of scene are you making in my shop?”
Jacqueline's eyes turned red in an instant, brimming with wounded innocence.
She threw herself against Norman, her voice cracking into a whimper：
“Honey, thank God you're here. She's been bullying me to death.”
She held up her wrist, showing off the faint marks she'd pinched into her own skin.
“I was just reminding Odette to do her job properly and not slack off, and she snapped at me and threw hot milk tea in my face!”
Norman's gaze passed over Jacqueline and landed on me.
More precisely, on the silver ring hanging from my neck.
When he made out what was engraved there, his whole body flinched.
As if to cover the reaction, he retreated into his office without another word.
All he left behind was a single, detached：
“Noted.”
The way he'd looked at me was strange.
I couldn't quite place it, but I didn't dwell on it.
Jacqueline had a spa appointment. Before she left, she didn't forget to shoot me one last glare.
“We're not done. I'll deal with you when I get back.”
During the lunch break, Norman appeared in front of me and held out an envelope.
“Odette, this is this month's New Employee Excellence Award. Five thousand dollars, cash.”
But I'd only been here three months. I was clumsy, always making mistakes.
How could I possibly have won a New Employee Excellence Award?
I opened my mouth to ask.
Norman just patted my shoulder gently：
“You're a good kid. If you ever need anything, just say the word. I'll make sure you have it.”
Something about the way he said it felt off.
But I couldn't turn the money down.
Five thousand dollars was exactly what I needed for my mother's dialysis.
That afternoon, Jacqueline ordered me to haul all the milk tea supplies to the stockroom by myself.
Normally it took several of the guys working together, and even then it took them hours.
She wouldn't let a single person help me.
“Consider this your punishment for throwing yourself at the boss yesterday. You don't leave until it's done.”
I hauled crates for two solid hours.
My back screamed like it was about to snap in half. I hid in the bathroom, pressing my fists into my lower back.
My phone started buzzing nonstop.
The staff group chat was blowing up.
Jacqueline had posted a long string of messages, every word pointed：
【Just a friendly reminder to everyone: this shop is a place for honest work.】
【Some people have other things on their mind. All they think about is climbing into someone's bed to get ahead.】
【I'd suggest you all keep your distance from a certain someone. Don't let the bad luck rub off.】
The replies piled up underneath, every last one falling over itself to grovel：
【The boss's wife is so right! Some trash will do anything for a shortcut. Absolutely disgusting.】
【Don't worry, ma'am. If I so much as talk to that person, I'll slap myself across the face!】
【Got it, got it. Keeping my distance from now on.】
At the very end, Jacqueline tagged me directly.
【Odette Perez, if I catch you sniffing around my husband one more time, pack your things and get out.】
The hostility from every single one of them pricked into me like needles.
Every minute I spent in that shop became its own small agony.
